This had to come up didn't it? I mean, really. As a Kiwi not living in NZ right now, any conversation automatically turns to rugby. And today is the opening and I guess the first game is being played. I was only alerted to the fact that something was up when a friend made a facebook comment referring to rugby.
You see, I use the term guess as I really don't have a clue. I don't even know who is playing the first game. I know, many would call me a traitor to my kiwi'ness, but it's just never been something I have had an interest in.
It is very easy to get caught up in the hype, and New Zealand could really do with a good party right now. It's been a rough year or two there and most people need to be able to escape from their realities for a little while. A good rugby season will help with that
The real issue I have with rugby and my birth countries obsession with it, is that it is too closely tied into the total psyche of the nation. For the next 8 weeks (is that how long the rugby world cup lasts?), the entire country's mood will depend on how well the All Blacks are performing. There will be a lightness, brightness and a positivity if things go well for the All Blacks. A feeling that all is right with the world and that all those nasties of the past few years are behind us and we can move forward as a nation. Heaven forbid things go wrong then it will the polar opposite.
The country will become apathetic and unable to function properly. There will be a gloom hanging over the entire country. There will be little point in conducting business as everyone will feel victimised and severely let down, by our rugby gods. Who is in the team this year?
The fact that the games are still being played and the tournament is still in action won't be of any consolation. The ringing of cash registers will be of some help to the doom and gloom, but at the individual grass roots level, not so much.
For New Zealand's sake I hope that the All Blacks are not true to form and don't peak too early. I hope the party is great for one and all. Mostly I hope that no matter what happens people remember that it is just a game. It's not a matter of National security or life and death.
Right, I am off to get my t-shirt printed with 'Rugby sucks' written on it. Not original, not clever but to the point.
Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts
Friday, September 9, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Meat and more meat
I was a wake bright and early this morning, with excitement tingling through my toes. Could have been pins and needles.
Anyway, I met a lady at the egg stall at the market the other week and she informed me of the best place to get meat in Singapore. Everyone has an opinion on this subject. Even the chicken man at the market can tell you where to get the best angus beef in town. "Go to Novena Square. Look for the building behind it and go up to the 4th floor and look for MMM butcher. He best for Angus beef in town." See, I was paying attention! No, I haven't tried it yet.
Food is integral to life in Singapore.
So the Egg lady, as she will forever be known, texted and set up a date for this morning to go and find her hidden gem. There is nothing like an adventure. Armed with my camera, the one on my phone, I stood and waited for my ride. I got a call 5 mins before I was to be picked up, asking what my address was, as Egg lady had deleted the vital piece of information. With my vast knowledge of Singapore, I proceeded to giver her directions. "You know that shophouse that you looked at and decided not to rent? Well, I live right opposite that." Clear and concise. Funnily enough she found me.
We drove for about 20 mins. I am not sure where, we were to busy meeting each other. We had chatted briefly and swapped numbers over eggs, but beyond that we knew nothing of each other. So we were having the obligatory girlie meet. "What are you doing here? How long do you think you'll stay? Are you enjoying it? What have you found hard about being here? Wow, it's cool to be driving in a car. You get to see different parts of Singapore." That inane chatter. It was fun! I felt like I had been let out for good behaviour.
Back to the tale. Basically we headed to the ports and in a huge industrial warehouse we found Ben Foods, http://www.benfoods.com. They have a selection of goodies on offer. There were your pasta's and tinned goodies. Olive oil, canned tomatoes, frozen bacon (I am assured it is the best brand you can get in Singapore and at a hugely reduced rate compared to the supermarkets), butter, cheeses, wines.
The next section is your meat. There is pure Angus beef, vacuum packed fresh from NZ. There are frozen lamb chops, marinated ribs and all sorts of other goodies at reasonable prices. The catch is that it is all prepackaged and you have to take it how it is. For a small family like mine that is a bit daunting, but then, I have a freezer and will just have to re package into small portions.
Now, I have just been off on a quick tangent. In all my excitement I forgot to take photo's while out shopping, so, I have just taken photo's of the goods I bought. I will put them on the bottom and also for the hell of it I am going to compare the prices that I paid at Ben Foods with the ones at Cold Storage.
Actually I am going to get on with that right now.
It looks remarkably cheaper. But I haven't tried any of it yet. Although Egg lady swears by the meat. The only other downer about this is that you really have to have a car.
Anyway, we now have enough meat to feed an army. I think we'll have ribs tonight, followed by bacon for breakfast tomorrow and then maybe a lamb chop for lunch followed by a steak for dinner.
Happy eating.
Anyway, I met a lady at the egg stall at the market the other week and she informed me of the best place to get meat in Singapore. Everyone has an opinion on this subject. Even the chicken man at the market can tell you where to get the best angus beef in town. "Go to Novena Square. Look for the building behind it and go up to the 4th floor and look for MMM butcher. He best for Angus beef in town." See, I was paying attention! No, I haven't tried it yet.
Food is integral to life in Singapore.
So the Egg lady, as she will forever be known, texted and set up a date for this morning to go and find her hidden gem. There is nothing like an adventure. Armed with my camera, the one on my phone, I stood and waited for my ride. I got a call 5 mins before I was to be picked up, asking what my address was, as Egg lady had deleted the vital piece of information. With my vast knowledge of Singapore, I proceeded to giver her directions. "You know that shophouse that you looked at and decided not to rent? Well, I live right opposite that." Clear and concise. Funnily enough she found me.
We drove for about 20 mins. I am not sure where, we were to busy meeting each other. We had chatted briefly and swapped numbers over eggs, but beyond that we knew nothing of each other. So we were having the obligatory girlie meet. "What are you doing here? How long do you think you'll stay? Are you enjoying it? What have you found hard about being here? Wow, it's cool to be driving in a car. You get to see different parts of Singapore." That inane chatter. It was fun! I felt like I had been let out for good behaviour.
Back to the tale. Basically we headed to the ports and in a huge industrial warehouse we found Ben Foods, http://www.benfoods.com. They have a selection of goodies on offer. There were your pasta's and tinned goodies. Olive oil, canned tomatoes, frozen bacon (I am assured it is the best brand you can get in Singapore and at a hugely reduced rate compared to the supermarkets), butter, cheeses, wines.
The next section is your meat. There is pure Angus beef, vacuum packed fresh from NZ. There are frozen lamb chops, marinated ribs and all sorts of other goodies at reasonable prices. The catch is that it is all prepackaged and you have to take it how it is. For a small family like mine that is a bit daunting, but then, I have a freezer and will just have to re package into small portions.
Now, I have just been off on a quick tangent. In all my excitement I forgot to take photo's while out shopping, so, I have just taken photo's of the goods I bought. I will put them on the bottom and also for the hell of it I am going to compare the prices that I paid at Ben Foods with the ones at Cold Storage.
Actually I am going to get on with that right now.
 |
| Purely for baking and my son. Not for me. I paid S$2.60 for 250g. At Cold Storage butter ranges from S$3 to S$6 for 250g. |
 |
| I am not going to comment about this buy. I paid S$2.50 for this. At Cold Storage it is S$3.45. |
 |
| Hubby and I LOVE good ribs. They better be good. US Marinated back ribs. I paid S$14.80 per kg. At Cold Storage Ribs are S$30.50 per kg. Cold Storage ones are Australian and not marinated. |
 |
| Meat, glorious meat. NZ Pure Angus Beef. I paid S$26 per kg. Cold Storage is about S$59.90 per kg. |
 |
| Bacon. Oh, how I have missed you. I paid around S$10.00 per kg. In Cold Storage bacon is between S$20 and S$30 per kg. |
 |
| Thought I'd try this for lunch. I paid S$4.60 and at Cold Storage it is S$7.50. |
 |
| Gotta have ya lamb chops. I paid S$15 per kg. The only lamb on the Cold Storage website I could find to compare it to was lamb french rack at S$69.90 per kg. I did see these at Ben Foods and I think they were around S$25 a kg, but were frozen. |
Anyway, we now have enough meat to feed an army. I think we'll have ribs tonight, followed by bacon for breakfast tomorrow and then maybe a lamb chop for lunch followed by a steak for dinner.
Happy eating.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Walk this way
One of the identifying factors of being in Asia for me is the directionless meandering which seems to be done at a snails pace and drives me to distraction. I am sure I have ranted about this previously and probably will again, but bare with me.
I am not sure about people's walking habits and I never really analysed mine until I realised that I would come home from a trip to the shops, cursing and fuming about the way people walk here.
Please, I am not having a go at anyone in particular, except those of you who walk real slow and seem to be drawn to any other moving force on the same footpath as you. And there it is, that's my frustration right there.
I am used to walking with direction and a pointedness. Purpose. I know where I want to go and stride away. I own the footpath. And this works in most western countries where the rule of the foot path is basically the same as the rule of the road. As I don't drive this can be rather confusing sometimes.
When in a new country, I often find myself happily exploring. Wandering in a thoughtless manner as I stare up at the buildings around me or stop in the middle of a crowd, because something bright and shiny caught my eye. Yes, I am a hypocrite. But at least I know it.
For the first few months of being in Singapore I found myself muttering under my breath, "Walk! One foot in front of the other". And things like "pick a lane, any lane." "Can we speed it up just a notch? I am going to lose my balance walking this slowly." I do hope it was under my breath. Hubby says that I can mutter rather loudly at times.
As time has gone on I am beginning to have a vague understanding of why people walk this way. It is HOT. Too hot to be walking at the brusque trot that I was used to in my former homeland. Also everyone here is also looking for shelter. Whether it be from the sun or the rain.
I am happier to walk out in the rain then then sun. At least getting wet cools me for a second before my clothes turn into a sauna. You can almost see the steam rolling off them.
Many of the old shop houses have a '5 foot way', which was introduced in the town plan of 1822. This was designed so that in the front of traditional shop houses there was a footpath which was 5 feet wide and was laid so that the over hang of the building covered the walk way providing shelter from sun or rain. Now days these are often built like covered corridors/walkways. Here is a link for more information if you feel the need to go all historical on us, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_foot_way.
I am beginning to see the sense in walking at a slower pace in the tropics. Less sweating, actually not really, but a lot less frustration at fellow footpath inhabitants. And really what is the rush?!
A heritage shophouse in Singapore.
Looking front on to the shophouse
Decorative tiles on shophouse
Newer 5 foot walk
I am not sure about people's walking habits and I never really analysed mine until I realised that I would come home from a trip to the shops, cursing and fuming about the way people walk here.
Please, I am not having a go at anyone in particular, except those of you who walk real slow and seem to be drawn to any other moving force on the same footpath as you. And there it is, that's my frustration right there.
I am used to walking with direction and a pointedness. Purpose. I know where I want to go and stride away. I own the footpath. And this works in most western countries where the rule of the foot path is basically the same as the rule of the road. As I don't drive this can be rather confusing sometimes.
When in a new country, I often find myself happily exploring. Wandering in a thoughtless manner as I stare up at the buildings around me or stop in the middle of a crowd, because something bright and shiny caught my eye. Yes, I am a hypocrite. But at least I know it.
For the first few months of being in Singapore I found myself muttering under my breath, "Walk! One foot in front of the other". And things like "pick a lane, any lane." "Can we speed it up just a notch? I am going to lose my balance walking this slowly." I do hope it was under my breath. Hubby says that I can mutter rather loudly at times.
As time has gone on I am beginning to have a vague understanding of why people walk this way. It is HOT. Too hot to be walking at the brusque trot that I was used to in my former homeland. Also everyone here is also looking for shelter. Whether it be from the sun or the rain.
I am happier to walk out in the rain then then sun. At least getting wet cools me for a second before my clothes turn into a sauna. You can almost see the steam rolling off them.
Many of the old shop houses have a '5 foot way', which was introduced in the town plan of 1822. This was designed so that in the front of traditional shop houses there was a footpath which was 5 feet wide and was laid so that the over hang of the building covered the walk way providing shelter from sun or rain. Now days these are often built like covered corridors/walkways. Here is a link for more information if you feel the need to go all historical on us, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_foot_way.
I am beginning to see the sense in walking at a slower pace in the tropics. Less sweating, actually not really, but a lot less frustration at fellow footpath inhabitants. And really what is the rush?!
A heritage shophouse in Singapore.
Looking front on to the shophouse
Decorative tiles on shophouse
Newer 5 foot walk
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